On first glance it seems Google are trying to bully poor little Skype with their new call service but Wired.com suggests the California-based firm is instead going for the throat of Facebook in an attempt to “displace it as the centre of online identity and social networking”.
People on Gmail can already call each other online using voice and video chat, but the new service allows them to ring contacts when they are away from their computers.
The service is currently only available to US users of Gmail, but Google said it planned to make the service more widely available soon with cheap international calling rates.
Google said, “We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant, to placing a call when you're in an area with bad reception,”
To make a call through its service, users should
-Click on the “call phone” option above their chat contacts list in Gmail
– Type in the number or enter a contact’s name.
– Calls that cost money will be charged from an online account that users can top up with a credit card.
With Google mail, chat and now calls all in one place it seems Google are creating a communication hub that just keeps growing and growing and with their Android OS floating around on half the smartphones these days it seems there's just no stopping them.
Source: Sky News